The authors aimed to determine the role of cytochrome P450 omega-hydroxylase 4A14 (CYP4A14) in the development and the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). They showed that hepatic CYP4A expression was up-regulated in the livers of patients and three murine models of NAFLD. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA]
Abstract

The authors engrafted familial hypercholesterolemia differentiated hepatocytes into the liver of Ldlr−/−/Rag2−/−/Il2rg−/− mice, and assessed the effect of these same medications on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol clearance and endothelium-dependent vasodilation in vivo. [Stem Cell Reports]
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Researchers found that oxidative stress increase CD133 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and increased CD133 expression enhanced the capacity of the defense system against ROS, and thereby play a central role in resistance to liver cancer therapy. Moreover, ablation of CD133 attenuated not only the capacity for defense against ROS, but also chemoresistance, in HCC through decreasing glutathione levels in vitro. [J Exp Clin Cancer Res]
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Investigators examined the effect of toyocamycin on hepatocyte lipoapoptosis and steatosis. They also explored the effects of toyocamycin in a mouse model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. [PLoS One]
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The author discusses the complex mechanisms involved in maintaining liver size homeostasis uniquely hepatic process encompass a variety of regenerative pathways that are specific to different types of injury. [Hepatology]
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Dr. Sanford Simon, head of the Laboratory of Cellular Biophysics at Rockefeller University, has been awarded a $600,000 grant by the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation to develop a therapy for fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma. [Rockefeller University]
Press Release

Although women are publishing more studies, being cited more often, and securing more coveted first-author positions than they were in the mid 1990s, overall progress towards gender parity in science varies widely by country and field. This is according to a massive report released on 8th March that is the first to examine such a broad swath of disciplines and regions of the world over time. [Nature News]
Editorial

When a prestigious medical journal challenged scientists to analyze data from a pivotal blood-pressure study in search of new findings, hundreds of researchers around the world rushed to sign up. The contest, sponsored by the New England Journal of Medicine, offered scientists a rare opportunity to access detailed trial data that otherwise might have remained proprietary for another year — if not indefinitely. But the competition, whose winners were announced on 7th March, also illustrates the tension between speeding access to data and protecting the interests of those who labored to collect them. [Nature News]
Editorial